Fire hydrant



Feb. 12, 1924. 1,483,410

F. cAvALLARo FIRE HYDRANT Filed July e. 1921 ATTOP/VEY Patented F eb. 12, 1924."

FRANK cAvALIlAno, or SAN :rosEQcALIFoRNla FIRE EY DEAN '1.A

Appuatio fued July 6,

To all whom it may concerm.

Be it known that I, FRANK CAvALLARo, a citizen of the United States, residing at city of San Jose, in the county of Santa Clara and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Fire Hydrants, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a fire hydrant.

It is the principal object of the-present invention to provide a fire hydrant having a structure which will permit it to be readily used in forming a hydrant havin a plurality of separately controlled outlet connections, said structure embodying a v alve which is not liable to freeze and which may be readily operated without vibrating.

The present invention contemplates the use of a hydrant having a lower compartment in direct communication with the water main and an upper compartment in communication with outlet connections. Said compartments being separated by a valve wall, having an opening therethrough and which opening is adapted to be closed by a valve member disposed in the upper compartment and acting against pressure of the water in the lower compartment.

. The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing. in which: l

Figure 1 is a view in section and elevation showing a hydrant with which the present invention is concerned.

Fig. 2 is a view in plan showing the hy drant with parts broken away for the sake of clearness.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 10 indicates a hydrant casing, the lower portion of which forms an inlet compartment 1l secured by a bolting flange 12 to a water main of suitable capacity. In the present case the h drant is formed with two outlets and it wil be understood that one or more outlets may be used without departing from the spirit of the-present invention, in which case the inlet compartment 11 will. supply all of the water required from the main. l/Vhen two outlets are provided the upper wall 13 of the inlet 'compartment 11 is preferably formed with a deflecting rib 14 which would tend to di-v rect the flowing water toward valve openings 15. These openings extend through the horizontal` artition wall 13 and establish communication between the lower compartment 11 and upper compartments 1921. Serial No. 482,648.

16 and 17. The outlet compartment 16 is in communication with an outlet opening 18, which opening is surrounded by suitable tubular connection for receiving the end of a ire hose not'shown in t-he drawing. An outlet -member 19 of larger capacity than that shown at 18 is shown as being formed through the wall of the compartment 17 The provision of outlet openings of different diameters permits hose lines of different sizes to be employed. The compartments 16 and 17 are separated bya Vertical' partition wall 20. The tops of thetwo separate compartments are closed by'caps 21 held in position by bolts 22. The caps are formed with central bosses 23 which receive internally threaded vsleeves 24. The sleeves are formed with an enlarged collar at their upper ends and are externally threaded at Vtheir lower ends to receive lock nuts 25.

A threaded valve stem 26eXtends through each of the sleeves 24 and, of course, engages the threads thereof. The upper end of this stem is formed with i'lat faces to receive a wrench by which the stem may be rotated. Mounted upon the lower end of each of the valve stems is a frusto-conical valve member 27 which is adapted to be forced down upon a tapered valve seat 28. This valve seat circumscribes `the opening 15 through the wall 13 and-may be interchanged. The valve member'21 may be formed of any desired material and is here shown as comprising an enlarged collar 29 carried at the lower end of the stem 26 and against which the valve member is secured. A washer 30 and a nut lhold the valve member in position against' the collar 29 and permit .the removal and repair of the valve. Attention is directed to the fact that the tapered face of the valveseat diverges toward the upper end thereof, thus making -it necessary to force the valve member down against the seat and against the upward pressure of the water in the mai-n.'

In operation of the present invention the hydrant is constructed and assembled as shown in the drawings. The valves 21 may normall be held upon their seats 28 and will reslst the upward pressure of the water in the compartment 11. When it is desired to open one of the valves its stem 26 is rotated to lift the valve away from its seat andin a counter direction to the pressure of the water. This will allow the upper compartment 16 or 17 to be filled with water and the Water to pass out through the out-- let'members 18 or 19. In hydrants of present construction it often occurs that the valve stems break a'nd dueto the fact that the valve is on the pressure side of the valve seat itis quite diflicult 'to make a repair. With applicants invention the breaking of a valve stem would not involve any great inconvenience as the stem would normally press down to hold the valve in `position and whenretrac'ted would permit the valve to be readil withdrawn. In hydrants commonly usedy an objectionable vibration of the pipes in adjacent buildings ofte-n takes place due to the fact that the valve members are operating against the pressure of the stream when they-are opened. This is eliminated by causing the valves to operate with the stream. In cold climates it is necessary to provide some means for draining the hydrants to prevent them from freezing, While in the present case it -will be seen that the compartment above the valve seat may be drained due to the position of the outlet openings near the Hoor 13, in other words when the valves are closed Water in the com partments 16 and 17 may be drained thr'i the outlet openings, This Will insure that the valves will not be maintained under water and that they may be readily opened by rotation of the stems assisted by the pres-- sure of the water in the main.

It will thus be seen that the device here disclosed while simple in construction and readily permitting the use of hose lines of any required diameter will at the same time prevent vibration and freezing of the valve while permitting the hydrant to be readily repaired.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention as noW known to me, it will be understood that Various changes might be made in the combination, construction and arrangement of parts by those skilled in the art Without departing from the spiritof the invention as claimed.

Havingthus described my invention, what l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A fire hydrant comprising a cylindrical lower inlet compartment having a {langewhereby it may be connected to a water main, a pair ot' upper outlet conugartments` formed above the inlet compartment and disposed on opposite sides of the center thereof, a horizontal partition wall separating the outlet compartment from the inlet. compartment, said outlet compartments each having a discharge opening whereb)7 they may be connected to a hose, said discharge opening being located in close proximity to said partition wall whereby the outlet compartments may be substantially drained, said horizontal partition wall having tapered valve openings formed therein between each outlet compartmentl and the inlet compartment, tapered valve members adapted to seat in and close said openings, a separate covering cap for the upper end of each outlet compartment, each cap having a threaded bore, a threaded valve stem for each valve member, said stem extending through said threaded bore in the cap and threadedly engaging the same, the upper ends of said stems projecting from said caps whereby they may be turned to raise the valves from their seats.

FRANK CAVALLARO. 

